Jaden Chizuruoke May ’29 worked with teammates Rihanna Arouna ’29 and Marion Akinsoji ’29 to design a chemically powered model car, the framework of which he is building in this view of the Huang-Hobbs Biomaker Space, where students get the chance to work safely and independently with biological systems.
The task of making the car — and the layered electrochemical battery that powers it — came about in a class called “Hands-on Engineering: Squishy-Style Making with Biology and Chemistry,” taught by the lab’s director, Justin Buck, PhD ’12. “This is definitely one of my favorite classes,” says May, who appreciates that after being trained, students are given the freedom to figure out how to tackle each task in a project.
Located in the basement of Building 26, the Biomaker Space welcomes novices and expert mentors alike, offering workshops in things like bacterial photography, biobots, lateral flow assays, CRISPR, and DNA origami.
For May, the makerspace has been a hub of collaboration. “I can Never “They’ve done anything in that lab without the help of their peers and mentors, and there’s an emphasis on teamwork that makes the classroom feel both welcoming and exciting,” he says, adding that he made some of his first friends at MIT there: “It’s been a great introduction to the campus.”
May says he’s thinking about double majoring in course 10-ENG (energy) and course 21W (writing) – but the class has also made him interested in biology.
